


Rainy Frost

by JZcatt



Series: Old stories as they were [3]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Cringe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-29 21:14:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21416764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JZcatt/pseuds/JZcatt
Summary: Old story, resurrected from my USB drive, wondering if there is interest. Feedback welcomed.Humanity had long left Earth behind and is in search of a new home planet. They discover a miracle.
Series: Old stories as they were [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1543924
Kudos: 2





	Rainy Frost

I’m Rainy Frost and I have to be the first to say this. America is an idiot. Now, I am an American, so I can say this as much as I want. I mean; America use to be a super power still was and is, if America still existed. Okay, time to back it up a few feet I see, considering some of you are giving me looks. America was a great nation, okay since this is a history lesson I guess I have to refer to things ‘the proper way’, in which I mean the United States of America; have we cleared things up a bit? Good.

Before 1960 America was at its greatest point in time. Then everything began rolling down hill at top speeds. Then 2500 happened, earth left orbit and began a collision course with our sun. America was a conniving nation and the whole world spoke one language, we called it Kammekienze. Kammekienze was originally used to communicate between soldiers and well medics and people like that. But after we discovered that the earth was gonna crash we all began to speak it. America began to pull the rest of world into a hostage situation.

‘Hostage’ meaning America began to cut off all outside relations, a dictation on the world. President Issac Teremen, the worst president and the downfall of our species. America was planning something big; and they wouldn’t share unless the other countries complied. Canada was the first followed by England, France, German, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Japan, Fiji, Nigeria, and Kazakhstan. That was it, no other country dared complied, the majority of people starved to death or the moved to country who surrendered.

On our moon, scientists had created the most amazing thing ever. They made a spaceship that had enough room for our species. But we couldn’t live in space without some sort of oxygen, or protein. The scientists had also made special that could be surgically installed to your thought, it’s difficult to explain but it changes the surrounding atmosphere into clean oxygen; well just the right amount of oxygen.

And the food problem, they created these special shakes you took three times a day, and this gum that you always had to chew and when you got tired of that piece you threw it out and you took another piece max. thirty minutes later. But enough about that; we didn’t have obesity problems but on to another point.

America planned to install these oxygen intakes into any willing occupant and they would be granted access on the ship so long as they lived in the countries that surrendered. Only half the residents from those countries wanted to go up, which meant them being the only ones who wanted to live. So we left. I was one of the first ones to enter the ship.

We could bring anything we wanted, I brought three laptops and at least twenty flash drives and all those held movies, games, books, anything that held our heritage as a planet, everything was translated into Kammekienze or English, I could still read bits and pieces of that old language. I also brought 15 other flash drives to hold music. I was known on the ship as ‘the supplier’ meaning I thought before hand when we came here so I had just about every piece of literature or art you can think of. I think I have caught up to where our story begins.

“Morning Mimi.” George said cheerfully. I was 15 when I was sent into space. I was 20 know, 5 years, and little George was born in space; he was about 4 years old. “Mimi, can you tell me about old earth? I want to hear how beautiful it was again.” He said in complete fascination. I smiled sadly at him. His mother died in childbirth and his father never excepting the invitation to join New Earth as we call it. I had been close to George’s mother so I said I would watch him.

I set George on my lap and he put his head against my heart. “Earth was green and blue. The most brilliant shades of it.” I relaxed against the chair taking in the colors of ‘old Earth’, “Please Mimi, tell me more.” I sighed and brushed his brown hair out of his eyes. “You would have loved it Georgie, the cities glowed at night, and out in the country side, when it was calm, and dark, the night and stars lit up with joy. The lakes glimmered in the sunlight and rippled in the most glorious patterns in the rain fall. The lightning storms that use to strike had power, so much power. But if you could watch from a distance they were amazing to watch. The sounds, oh the sounds, made music everywhere you look. The waterfalls that glittered in the sunlight making rainbows, made a beautiful sound. The water crashing into the rocks below were dangerous, but still sounded so indulging. The power of old earth was what attracted people, but that was also its downfall.” I smiled sadly and I spoke for hours again about the world I knew.

Its vibrant colors, its meticulous sounds, the smells of actually food, or feeling the brush of the trees across my face. I missed Oregon, supposedly one of the greenest states in America. The rain fall every day, the green trees out my window, the sounds of cars driving by, the mountains in the distance with the paper mills puffing smoke. I miss the little things.

My brother waking me up in the morning so I could read to him, my sister being ticked off at me one minute and laughing with me the next. My mother and her tender, busy, wonderful life. My father, the way he felt when I hugged and kissed him good night. After awhile I realized I was crying. I missed earth, the real earth, so much. But I tried to stay positive.

President Peyton Fonders promised to find an actual planet to settle on that wasn’t to cold and wasn’t to hot. The best I could do was keep positive for George and my new friends. “Mimi, your crying again. Why?” I turned to look at him, realizing just how much I longed for earth. “I’m just missing old earth hunny.” He looked at me suspiciously.

“So you cry when you miss it?” I nodded yes. “Never be afraid to cry George. It makes sure we still feel, that we still feel pain and loss.” He gave me a weird look but sat on lap and pulled out a small tablet. He began to play old earth games and a couple New Earth games. I stroked his hair as I remained in thought.

Later that day, George went and played with his friends and I remained in my room reading _Romeo and Juliet_ after reading_ The Reason We Call It Smekday_. Do you know how difficult it was to find renditions of these books in Kammekienze? I was okay watching movies in English, if the subtitles were up I could easily keep up.

I heard a knock on my door. “It’s open.” I called. “Rainy! Rainy! President Fonders found a planet, slightly smaller than earth. It’s inhabited, but it should be adequate enough to start a green house and stuff like that. And if we have to we can settle on the moon, or send them to the moon. Either way, we’ll have a new home!”

Brandy, my neighbor who loved the gossip of the ship. He lived off the gossip. I perked up a bit putting my tablet, one of the ones my flash drives plugged into, onto my side table. I stood up in my excitement and raced out of the room as Brandy ran to the next room. Soon a stampede echoed behind me. I turned a corner and raced up the steps to the control room. “Caleb, is Brandy right?” I called up the stairs. My sentiments was echoed all the way up the stair well. There at the top of the stairs stood Caleb trying to fend off the last ward of hasty humans racing rapidly up the staircase. I cursed to myself and ran even faster upward.

“Break it up, break it up, BREAK IT UP!” I shouted and the room quieted almost immediately. “Thank you.” I turned to Caleb as soon as it quieted. “Now Caleb, I think I speak for all of us when I ask. Are the rumors true?” Everyone looked hopeful toward Caleb. “That we’ll have burritos tomorrow?” Someone asked, and you could tell who it was cause everyone inched away from him, not wanting to be recognized with him. I stared at him curiously. “I have not heard that one. It would be nice, but I have not heard it. No, I was talking about the…the one about the planet.” I finished hesitantly. Everyone perked upright and stared at Caleb. He lowered his head and began to answer. “Yes, but it wasn’t suppose be announced until later in the week.”

The room began to round up in excitement until it got to a shouting decibel. “Enough!” I shouted again. It calmed down again and looked expectantly at me. I looked between President Fonders suite and then everyone else. “If President Fonders is willing, we will scout out the planet beforehand. Unless that has already been accomplished.” I turned to Caleb, the vice-president. Now, because I was ‘the Supplier’ (which is an actual title) on the ship, I consequently ‘represent’ the rest of New Earth and I have as much power as Caleb Winchester does. Caleb shook his head at me, then slowly began to smile. “And who wants to be on the Alpha 1 scouting team.” He announced suddenly. No one raised their hand.

“Led by our very own Rainy.” He finished, his shark eating grin lapsing my judgment. I paused and stared at him. I couldn’t tell if I should be grateful or horrified. Brandy slowly raised his hand, following his two neighbors. Caleb clapped his hands together. “Okay, so all teams will be made up of four. Rainy, you’re the supplier, but now the leader of the first response and renaissance team. Tell me, when are you and your team ready to leave.” Caleb asked. I looked at the three other people who would touch this new planet for the first time. “Three earth days. We’ll be ready by then.”

Three days later, I paced up and down in my room, Brandy opened my door and watched me pace. “You know, I don’t think in all five years of us being neighbors I’ve ever seen you nervous.” I stopped and glared at him, before moving to my bed and opening up my pack again. Before I left, Caleb divided the planet into quadrants and that into sectors. We only wanted to be gone an earth week.

So we packed enough for 10 days. Everyone had small day pack. Three changes of clothes, three packs of Netex (the gum we always have to chew) a travel water generator (you pour any chemical and the machine adds, replicates, reduces, and, essentially, makes artificial water), gloves, twenty packs of Protein Reste shakes, a tent, a small emergency medical kit, and a couple choice items each. It didn’t take long to meet my complete team.

Brandon Corvales was big on gossip and was a scientist. He was tiny, like 3’ 9” tiny. He never had much of a growth spurt after third grade; and the man was just as scrawny as one as well. In a big backpack, which I assume was going carry personal things, Brandy wanted to bring a magnetic serum to coat his gloves so “I can climb like spider-man.” Brandy wasn’t just a scientist, but a major comic nerd. He was always borrowing the flash drive with superhero comics.

Johanson Remews was a very secretive and stoic man. He was the kind of man who looked scrawny but had bounds of strength. He use to be a police officer and he brought with him just about his whole police kit. His tazer, gun, handcuffs, and lots of ammo. He enjoyed his work as a police officer and didn’t want to let it go.

Frank Hynen was very open and enjoyed music almost as much as me. But he worked in the military, coding and decoding messages. In his pastime, he loved learning other languages. The man was about 6’ 9”, Nigerian, and was big, burly and all muscle. By the time he was thirty he learned over fifty languages and could code about thirty of them. Frank was amazing.

Then there was me, Rainy Frost. Their ‘official’ leader, but I bet I’m going to be so jumpy I won’t be able to focus on being leader. I was scrawny, but like Jon had those hidden muscles that no one could see. I loved music, literature, movies, and TV shows. I was a total entertainment junkie. One of the things I brought in my pack was my favorite flash drives and my music pod.

I looked up to notice the others made themselves at home. Their packs sat on their backs. “So, you guys ready?” I asked nervously. Frank and Brandy nodded and Jon simply inclined his head in attention. I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath. George crawled up my back and hugged me there. I hugged him back and carried him to his part time babysitter for while I’m away. “I’ll miss you Mimi.” He muttered. “I’ll miss you too Georgie.” He ran toward Margie and she led him inside. Alpha 1 scouting made their way to the control deck, which would eject us, hopefully, to a decollate location within quadrant 1 sector 1, 1:1.

I saluted President Fodders and Caleb before I loaded myself into the pod with the three other boys. The lights flickered off, leaving us in the darkness. “So, what’s the plan?” Brandy asked. I looked around to see the three looking back expectantly. The pod bumped around as I tried to think of an answer. “You said this planet was inhabited correct?” He nodded slowly. “Were the scouts, until further notice we are the face of New Earth I want to meet a native and if at all possible bring one back with us to the ship.” I said hesitantly Jon had a look of thought. “And if they become violent?” He asked

My face hardened. “Then we become violent.” I pulled a compartment out from underneath me and showed them a bucket full of guns, bombs, grenades and duct tape. I picked up two rolls of duct tape and threw them into my pack, following suit with two or three of the others. Brandy caught on and grabbed his own duct tape, guns, bombs, and grenades. Jon and Frank caught on as well just before we crashed.

We rolled and tumbled until I was stuck on the bottom underneath the three boys. Frank began groaning and complaining in French, Jon was drooling all over Frank’s hair, something that Frank complained about, and Brandy just sat on top of us talking away. “Brandy, if you don’t get off of us this moment. You’ll have more to worry about than the natives.” I muttered into the floor. Brandy looked down nervously and slowly moved off us. Jon moved next as Frank continued to curse and whine in French, slowly getting off me.

I rolled to the side and opened the door that was underneath us. I glared at the floor next to me that blocked the way out. “So, are we stuck in the pod?” Brandy asked. I glared at him and tried to find something to prop it open. I threw my pack on my back and discovered a small piece of metal that broke off. I smiled. “Perfect.” I rammed the thing under the pod opening and tried to use it as a lever. “It’s not going to work.” Brandy mumbled. He began scouring for something bigger. “Found a bigger one.” He said excitedly. I propped it higher up and his rammed the bigger lever in. We slowly began to flip the pod on its side. As soon as it was open enough, I slide my hand under and went to slide under. “I’ll continue pushing from the other side, you guys work on this side.” I said loudly. I heard a muffled agreement and began to lift on my side. I didn’t even have a chance to look outside the pod before I got caught up in flipping it over. It didn’t take any longer than it took to slide out for us to flip it. I heard a screech from the boys as the tumbled into each other. I peered through the top and saw them piled atop each other again. “So, that worked.” I said cheerfully. The guys glared at me. I giggled and pulled back and actually looked at the scenery. I was in some sort of metal glowing plain. The metal was in all amazing colors. “Check this out.” I said as they got out. The rest of my group stood in wonder and amassment. “It’s like the painted desert in Nevada, except…” I cut Frank off before he could continue. “Like a city night and the Aurora Borealis rolled into one. Like the light reflecting of the snow on a winter morning.” I stated in a light daze. If you couldn’t tell, I loved the beauty of every place you went on earth. “It’s…simply amazing. It reminds me of a metal earth. But…nothing is going to compare to earth.” I said sadly and looked around the glowing desert. I felt someone put their hand on me, but I shrugged it off and pulled on my pack. “C’mon, someone pull out a tablet and figure out where we are. We only have a week to explore 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 and hopefully bring back a native.” I saw Jon pull out a tablet as I crouched down and caught a ground view of the whole place. The place glittered even more with all the colors of the rainbow. The ground felt alive and wind wiped across my cheek. Wind? I looked across the sky and I could feel something in the air. A strong atmosphere covered the planet, I could tell. I brought out my own tablet and checked atmospheric conditions. This air was similar to earth, complete with oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and several others. They were in different quantities than on earth, but for the first time on this planet I realized there was less of a strain on my oxygen intake. I touched the edge of my intake. I winced because it was common knowledge that the skin around it was raw and sore. But for almost the first time in five years; my intake wasn’t hurting. Now, for those who don’t know what a oxygen intake looks like. The best description I can give is that it looks like Ironman’s Arc reactor. In the middle of the chest, just below the collarbone. It is difficult to get to, but it was worth it essentially.

“Rainy, we are going that way, are you coming?” Jon asked. I nodded, still looking at the tablet glancing up at the glowing valley. We traveled awhile. Brandy taking pictures of the scenery I guess. Logging temperatures, climates, directions, Ect. Ect. And being the leader I am…I got to bored. I pulled out my music pod from my pocket and a drive from my pack and I scrolled through songs before I found one I wanted to listen to. I put the ‘blue tooth’ ear buds in and started to sing along.

_I've never seen a diamond in the flesh___  
_I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies_  
And I'm not proud of my address  
In the torn up town, no post code envy

_But every song's like:_  
Gold teeth  
Grey Goose  
Tripping in the bathroom  
Bloodstains  
Ball gowns  
Trashing the hotel room

_We don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams_

_But everybody's like:_  
Crystal  
Maybach  
Diamonds on your timepiece  
Jet planes  
Islands  
Tigers on a gold leash

I could hear Frank join me loudly for the chorus.

_We don't care, we aren't caught up in your love affair_

_And we'll never be royals (royals)_  
It don't run in our blood  
That kind of lux just ain't for us, we crave a different kind of buzz  
Let me be your ruler (ruler)  
You can call me queen bee  
And baby I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule  
Let me live that fantasy

I could feel Brandy tap my shoulder. “Could you sing quieter, you’re going to scare every one with a ten mile radius.” I winced but continued humming the song and muttering the words

_My friends and I we've cracked the code_  
We count our dollars on the train to the party  
And everyone who knows us knows  
That we're fine with this, we didn't come from money

_But every song's like:_  
Gold teeth  
Grey Goose  
Tripping in the bathroom  
Bloodstains  
Ball gowns  
Trashing the hotel room

I could clearly hear Frank again singing. I heard Brandy sigh as he took more notes and I could not figure out what Jon was doing.

_We don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams_

This is where I accidently began singing louder and louder…again.

_But everybody's like:_  
Crystal  
Maybach  
Diamonds on your timepiece  
Jet planes  
Islands  
Tigers on a gold leash

_We don't care, we aren't caught up in your love affair_

Brandy tapped on my shoulder again to remind me to be quiet again. I growled at him but stopped singing only to quietly sing again.

_And we'll never be royals (royals)_  
It don't run in our blood  
That kind of lux just ain't for us, we crave a different kind of buzz  
Let me be your ruler (ruler)  
You can call me queen bee  
And baby I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule  
Let me live that fantasy

_ooh ooh oh ooh_  
We're better than we've every dreamed  
And I'm in love with being queen

_ooh ooh oh ooh_  
Life is great without a care  
We aren't caught up in your love affair

_And we'll never be royals (royals)_  
It don't run in our blood  
That kind of lux just ain't for us, we crave a different kind of buzz  
Let me be your ruler (ruler)  
You can call me queen bee  
And baby I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule  
Let me live that fantasy

My song ended with Brandy and Jon glaring at both Frank and I. “I never said it was a stealth mission.” I muttered. Brandy rolled his eyes, something about a leader who is never going to shut up. I smiled back at him as I surveyed the scene. The area had changed slightly, we were still in those beautiful plains with the vibrant glowing colors. But near the edge now there were these crystal formations. They looked like crystal diamonds, bright red rubies, sea green emeralds, opals, topaz; they were like jeweled trees, except for the fact it was a complete mineral growing up forming giants. Some of them had looping ‘stems’ poking out or drooping down, like a glowing red pine tree, or a rainbow willow. Others reached out to the heavens and great expanse of space like a yellow giant sequoia. “They look like crystal trees.” I muttered under my breath, and I’m almost positive that Brandy wrote that down word for word. Jon looked around and then at his tablet. “A civilization. Due east three miles, just beyond that crystal forest.” He pointed outward; there was a small opening between two particular weeping willows. I walked toward it and looked at the expanse of this planets forest. I looked between the crystal branches. I brought my arm up and practically karate chopped it. I caught it as it fell and held it above my head. “Brandy, a crystal weeping willow sample for you, when’s you’re birthday? It’s the perfect present.” I called out, Brandy pulled his pack off and opened it wide open “Toss it.” He called back. I smiled and tried as best I could to throw it into his bag. Unfortunately, my aim was off and hit Jon square in the head. I winced as Jon fell over and Brandy picked the branch off the him, “Sorry Jon.” I said running next to him. “Please no more tossing games.” He pleaded under his breath, still dazed. Frank and I held him up as he leaned against our shoulders. Jon’s head rolled into my shoulder and he whined in pain. “We need to find somewhere to rest guys, do you think we will find that on the other side of the forest?” I asked. Jon’s oxygen intake wheezed in and out heavily, telling me, clear as mud, that when the branch was thrown, his intake was effected as well. “The forest is three miles long, besides, Jon was the one keeping track of distance and stuff like that. We might get lost in there.” Brandy pointed out sliding his tablet back in his pack. “Brandy, his intakes are hitching, he might die if we can’t fix that.” I pointed out. I looked over and noted the growing formations in the sky. It wasn’t earth clouds, but growing up in Oregon, you can feel when the rain was coming. “We need to get under cover.” Frank and Brandy looked behind us when they noticed I kept glancing in there. “Okay, agreeing with you. Into the forest we go.” Brandy said picking up Jon stuff. Frank and I shifted the weight of Jon and began a trip into the crystals. Past the first groove of trees, then it became darker and darker. And the crystals, the crystals were like standing under waterfalls. It was simply a gorgeous sight. Light seemed to ripple through the overhanging jeweled trees. We slowed down as Brandy pulled out Jon’s tablet. “If his tablet is right, this gemstone woodland will be a minimum of two miles to cross; if we don’t run into something and detour.” I frowned. “Do you see any place where the foliage could be heavy. That might be a better option if we truly are in the middle of a storm. Besides I need to tweak Jon’s intake before it goes offline. Brandy, can you message the ship back and ask for an emergency mask?” I stated, gently placing a hand near Jon’s intake, making sure it was rotating at a steady pace. Jon groaned in pain and I winced for him. “Sorry Jon, I just need to make sure it’s still going. Carefully with him Frank.” I scolded Frank when his arm went slack and Jon fell the opposite direction of myself. I wrapped my arm around Jon’s chest and pulled him into myself. I balanced myself as Frank nervously chuckled at me on the ground. “Sorry Rainy, I tripped.” I looked at the over head covering and set Jon against a tree. I looked over Jon to see if the branch did anything other than daze him and shock his intake systems. Brandy pulled out of his bag an emergency medical kit and inside was a miniature emergency mask. “When did you think to pack it?” I asked as he handed it to me. I covered his nose, mouth and a separate attachment to cover his intake and switched the mask on. Two minutes later I went to check on Jon’s intake and noticed that it was still racketing. “We might have to send Jon back, I can’t think of what is loose, but if we can’t figure it out. Jon can’t stay here. I’m not going to let Jon die because I threw a branch at his face.” I muttered under my breath. Frank put a hand on my shoulder and I relaxed. “We may not be able to contact the ship. They have any barrier up they can think off until the end of the week. Getting medical help may be practically impossible.” Brandy stated, holding his tablet hear, there, and everywhere trying to connect to New Earth. I growled as I checked Jon’s pulse and rotations again. “I hate Caleb and Peyton sometimes.” I muttered. I looked out of the wood crystal wood and noticed the storm was on top of us. “We can’t move anyway.” I added leaning against another tree. Frank wrapped his arms around my shoulder and pulled me in. “Thanks Frank.” I said before dazing off to sleep with the sound of something falling gently above us.

I woke up with Frank drooling all over my head. I sat up quickly and went to check over Jon. I took a deep breath of relief when Jon’s intake had fixed itself out, or Brandy fixed it while I slept. Either way, Jon was going to be okay. I stood up and looked out into the clearing. The storm had passed, but that didn’t mean it was safe. I sat down and looked between the three of us. Frank fell onto his face, but was still asleep. Jon was restless, but that was because he didn’t fall asleep on purpose, and Brandy…Brandy disappeared. My eyes narrowed and glanced around the crystals once more. “Brandy?” I called out. I heard no answer. I got up and went to look around. The crystals glittered, but I didn’t pay attention to them, I was concerned for Brandon. I pulled out Jon’s tablet and turned it to notes. I was going to leave a note for them to see when I saw Brandy’s writing on one note. _“Went exploring, I’ll be back in five minutes at least, at most ten. Don’t worry. 0044 Brandon.”_ I relaxed and looked at the time on Jon’s tablet. 0284. I can a sure you, that is more than ten minutes. Because we live in space, well…we don’t have a sun to go off of. So we go off of 1440 minutes, the average day back on earth. So he’s been gone for 4 hours. I can assure you, that’s not 5 minutes. I quickly wrote out my own note before I paused. I walked over to Frank and shook him awake. “Frank…Frank…Frank!” I shouted at him. He was startled to much and hit his head on the side of the tree. “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.” He complained rubbing his head. “We have to go and find Brandy.” I stated, Frank looked at me weirdly. “What do you mean, he’s over…” He then noticed that Brandy was nowhere to be found. “He left at 44, its 284 right now.” I stated and Frank’s eyes widened. He threw his pack on his back and grabbed Jon’s as well. “We got to get going.” I went and picked up Jon. He lulled and began to try and stand by himself. “Careful Jon, I hit your head pretty bad.” Jon nodded his head carefully as I looked over a giant bruise that began to form on his head hours ago. Frank came and helped balance out Jon’s weight after I got him up. “I think I can walk.” He slurred a little. Frank went to let go, but I shook my head. “Jon, less than 6 hours ago your intake was hitching up and down. I don’t want to take the risk of it hitching again. I only took your E. mask off, because you were fine for now.” Jon nodded sluggishly before accepting our help. Frank and I readjusted and we began our trip to find Brandy. The gemmed woodland continued on forever. Jon became more alert the longer we went until Frank and I let go and he could walk by himself. But I stayed behind him just in case. “Rainy, please, I’ll be fine.” Jon tried to reassure for the fifth time. For the most part, Jon wouldn’t mind if I followed him. But Jon didn’t like the fact that I was practically babying him. Which I whole heartedly admit. I glared at him, and his shoulders sagged again. It remained quiet until he asked me to stop babying him for the sixth time; about two minutes later. This repeated every two to five minutes. Frank took notes for Brandy because we didn’t know how many Brandy took in his four hours of being away. We only stopped when we couldn’t go any farther. “What do you mean can’t go any farther?” I asked. Frank showed me what he meant. We couldn’t go any farther. In front of us was a large river full of…“oil?” I asked. The bank dropped leaving a rock climb downwards into the black river that rushed over smooth opals and at the bottom of the bank, sitting in a pile of gritty, black, and wet sand was Brandon. “Brandon!” I called out to the bottom of that small ravine. Brandy looked up and smiled brightly. “Rainy, Frank, Jon, do you have something in a pack that could help me up?” He asked. I thought for a second and pulled a roll of duct-tape out of Frank’s pack. “Why my pack? Why duct-tape?” He asked trying to stop my hand from reaching in. I pulled out several long, maybe 2 foot strands each, and began to twist the first. Jon sat down at the ravines edge watching me work. When I finished twisting the first, I attached the second and twisted the next. Jon’s eyes widened when he realized I was making a rope. Not a very sturdy rope, but it should work to bring Brandy up…hopefully. Once the rope was a little less than 8 feet long I went and tossed it down. It then went and hit Brandy upon the head, effectively attracting his attention. He pulled on it lightly then tagged it downward with his whole body weight. Unfortunately, I was standing on the very edge and Frank barely had time to pull me back before I went tumbling down the side to sit next to Brandy. After reassuring my grip on the make shift rope; I went and glared at Brandon who starred innocently after letting go. “Wait for us to be ready too, will ya?” I called out to him. He laughed nervously, but nodded. I went and found a sturdy, large branch, pulled some more duct tape out and taped the end to the branch. I felt kind of bad about ruining the natural beauty of this innocent planet, but I was hoping to save my friend, kill him for giving me a heart attack, then save him again. I held on to one end to help pull him up and Frank tossed the end that flew back up back toward Brandon. “Now try and get out.” I shouted. Frank grabbed hold of the rope as well and began pulling along with me. I could feel resistance one the opposing end and Brandy attempting to climb hand over hand. Frank and I began to pull and the pull on the other end increased. It took a bit longer than I hoped, but Brandy was soon at the top, Frank having wrapped his burly arms around him and pulled him the rest of the way out. “Brandy you okay?” I asked looking him over from head to toe. I brushed sand clumps off him ever here and there. Brandy tried to push me away, but that made even more persistent. Brandy eventually grabbed my roaming hands. “Rainy, I’m fine. I might have a few scrapes but I have nothing serious.” I shifted my eyes over his body, before nodding in submission. “Worry about me later. But come one, I found something.” I smiled, brushed any sand and oil clumps on my back down the ravine, and pulled on my pack. “So what did you find Brandy?” I asked walking next to him after I coiled my duct tape rope. “I curious and feel down the ravine. Well instead of staying put, because did you really think I was going to stay put for four hours?” I glared at him when he tried to make that joke. “You couldn’t stay at the camp site for more than two hours. I would hope you can stay in one spot. But I can only expect so much from a ADHD brain.” I stated and he chuckled nervously making Frank laugh. “Oh be quiet Frank, anyway I spotted a small city a city. It’s on the other side of the bank, but I figured we should at least check it.” I nodded slowly. “So you found the civilization?” I asked recapping what he said. He shrugged and continued on our merry little way. It took a total of 40 minutes, but eventually we made it to the civilization, well…almost. I stared deadpan at the fact of the large and sparse space we would have to cross to make it to the town on the opposing side. I glanced among the trees. “There’s got to be a bridge somewhere.” I muttered. “Rainy, over here!” Frank called, I raced over and looked down to where he was pointing. Some ways over was a carved, handcrafted and manually reinforced crystal bridge that was once a tree growing here…at the bottom of the gorge and rushing rapids. I went deadpan again as I starred at the once beautiful gateway across the river. “Must have been knocked over by the storm.” I said to myself. Frank and Brandy nodded with me as Jon looked around for something else. “I think…I think I see stairs running down the side.” He finally said after starring down our side of the gully. I went and looked where he was, and sure enough there was some sort of engraved stair case. I put my feet over the edge and set my feet on the first step. “Rainy, what are you doing?” Frank asked worriedly. I rolled my eyes as I stood up and took the next step down. “What’s it look like Frank? I’m going to go cross the river; maybe we can angle the old bridge to at least help us cross.” I stated. Frank looked uneasy, but complied and placed his feet on the next step as well. I smiled as I went further down as the boys followed. I reached the sandy and sticky bottom and went straight for the broken bridge. I then realized the fault in my plan when I noticed how difficult it would be to move it out of the oily river without someone crossing first. I glared at the river before I noticed the way they all slanted; I walked further up river before smiling. What I saw downstream was the opal floor bed of the river. Some of it was higher than others and peered over the top, it was probably the off season or something and it was lower than it was suppose to be. But the higher up I went, the more patches of dry opals. I picked some of them up and I remembered the way smooth stones were made in the oceans and I embraced the smooth feeling. “Hey Brandy, do you have opal river rock samples yet?” I asked before showing him a perfectly round and smooth rock before shoving it into my pocket. Brandy began to spurt random facts that he discovered about this river. I ignored him and jumped onto the first patch of dry opal rocks. I picked a flat one from under my foot and flipped a couple times before I went and skipped the stone. “Good toss Rain.” Frank called, picked up his own rock and gave his a toss. I smiled at him and turned to continue my jump across the river. I could hear the others follow my lead, but I could also hear Jon asking if this was safe or necessary. I turned to him and asked him in a serious expression, “Have you ever jumped rocks as a kid, when we were on Earth?” He didn’t answer me, so I took it as a no. “Then think of it as a way to create memories you never got to have as a kid.” Jon didn’t say anything, but when I looked back after I crossed the length, there was this pure look of almost childish concentration on his face. So I only can assume he took it deeper than I thought he would. I then began to walk back to where we saw the stairs on the far side and noticed that there were stairs on this side to. “How did you know there was a stair case on this side as well?” Jon asked. I turned back and gave a shark eating grin. “I didn’t. I’ve been winging it.” Jon’s eyes widened in horror, but didn’t say anything. We climbed the stairs and at the top of the plateau I over looked the expanse we crossed. It was beautiful in its own way, but it wasn’t Earth’s river. It wasn’t Earth at all, and it never will be. It was still a long time before we could leave the jeweled wood; I figured we should probably rest. Jon and Brandy looked hesitant, but nodded while Frank just plopped down next to a lonely tree. I sat next to Frank while he just picked at an old book that he used to keep his translating skills in good practice. I looked over in the ratting old book. “What’s that say?” I asked. Frank’s eyes glazed over the words. He spoke a bunch of things I couldn’t understand. It sounded pretty, but I couldn’t understand it. I made a face at him and chuckled. “To live is to learn. That is in French.” I nodded and pointed at the next one. Some were small and just translations like “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” But others were three pages long and were excerpts of _Julius Cesar_ and _Romeo and Juliet_. It was actually really cool to listen to the other languages. It soothed me, to remember my home planet. They way they spoke. Of course some of them didn’t have as smooth of sounds, others flowed like water over rocks. We waited a couple more minutes before we got up to continue the long trek to the native town. I began to hum softly before plugging in my ear buds again and turning up some music.

_We come into this world unknown_  
But know that we are not alone  
They try and knock us down  
But change is coming, it's our time now

I spoke I such a serious voice that Jon actually thought I was speaking. And then I began to sing the first verse. I could feel Jon glaring at me from behind.

_Hey everybody loses it_  
Everybody wants to throw it all away sometimes  
And hey, yeah I know what you're going through  
Don't let it get the best of you, you'll make it out alive

I grabbed Frank’s shoulders and looked him in the eye as I sang.

__  
Oh, people like us we've gotta stick together  
Keep your head up, nothing lasts forever  
Here's to the damned to the lost and forgotten  
It's hard to get high when you're living on the bottom

Frank joined me after the chorus and grabbed my shoulders as well.

_Oh woah oh oh woah oh_  
We are all misfits living in a world on fire  
Oh woah oh oh woah oh  
Sing it for the people like us, the people like us

_Hey, this is not a funeral_  
It's a revolution, after all your tears have turned to rage  
Just wait, everything will be okay  
Even when you're feeling like it's going down in flames

I then heard my music turn off as Frank kept singing. “Hey, who did that?” I rounded on Jon and Brandy who looked very suspicious to me. Frank went and grabbed a small device from Jon, that looked suspiciously like my. “My music player.” I growled as Frank handed it back to me. I nodded to him, but I didn’t start anymore music. It would have been a waste of time since we were so close to the settlement. The place was gorgeous, lights glimmered like on Earth, but the settlement was smaller. “I wonder how big the natives are.” I wondered aloud after noticing the smaller size. The doors on the buildings were about the length of my leg, more or less. Our group ducked behind a hill nearby the city, but not close enough to attract attention. I then saw my first native. He was sitting just outside the city, were all buildings clustered making apartments and other things. I couldn’t see very well inward. “Frank.” I whispered, pointing to the native. He was metal, like a robot. He was leaning against an outer wall, eyes closed, his metal leg crossed over another. His head was nodding like when I listened to music. His leg kind of went back in forth in a relaxed stance, meaning he hadn’t noticed us yet. “Jon, have you marked this town yet?” I asked as he fiddled around with his tablet. He nodded. “I’ve only labeled it City 1.1 until further notice.” I nodded slowly, “Brandy, have you made any good observations about this place? Notes?” Brandy nodded and showed me a bunch of hand written notes and equations such on such on. Actually “What’s with the math?” I asked. He looked down slightly embarrassed. “I got bored.” I chuckled and kept a close eye on the native of the planet. “Do you think this is the dominant life form?” Brandy asked. I gave him a weird look. “When did you start speaking like alien?” He glared back at me. “Since I became one.” I winced and tried to keep in mind that we were now the aliens. The native by the wall was still unsuspicious, until I noticed his leg was tense. Or that it at least stopped swinging like it was relaxed. “I think he hears us. He probably only hears babble.” I muttered into Frank’s ear. He nodded and kept watch with me. The native eventually sat up and inquired something. “Do you know what he said?” I asked Frank, he shrugged. “I can’t translate or decode if I don’t know the language.” I sighed and tried to figure out what he said. It could have ranged anywhere between. “Who’s there?” or “Jimmy, did you get my beef soda?” He asked the same range of syllables and I was guessing that it was “Who’s there?” or he really wants that beef soda. He eventually got up and began to walk toward us. “Shoot.” I muttered pushing up against the opposite direction he was. The others followed in suite and tried to put as much distance between the eyes of the native and ourselves. Eventually he came across us and his eyes widened. He was roughly smaller than my forearm, maybe half way up it. He went to take a step back and opened his mouth. Frank’s eyes widened and jumped to catch the little local before anything was said. Frank’s hand effectively covered the native creature’s mouth and his arms. Frank experimentally lifted him off the ground and noticed just how small he was. “It, he, he’s like a ferret.” He exclaimed and we shushed. “Sorry, but it’s like lifting a ferret.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “You’ve held a ferret before?” I asked. He grimaced. “No, I’ve been attacked by a ferret before, that different.” I gave Frank a suspicious look. “So, what do we do with the native?” Brandy asked. I shrugged. “I was hoping we could meet a native at the end were we could easily transport the guy, not on the second day of exploring.” I sighed and watched the metal native struggle in Frank large palm. “He really is little, isn’t he?” I stated, holding out my hand to hold him. Frank shrugged and passed the guy to me. My hands were much smaller than Frank’s and couldn’t successfully hold on to him. He tried to kick me, but that didn’t work out well for him. After a little incident of almost dropping him twice when he tried to escape. He sat willing on my hand looking nervous as anyone should or would. I brought up my hand and looked over his head. He winced; I don’t know what he thought I was going to do. Maybe he thought I’d try and squish him. Either way, he tried to back away from my hand. I ignored him and brought my hand to run over his head, where he would have had hair. I then heard a small engine noise. I stalled when he looked down. I hesitantly brought my hand back and rubbed his head again, just between two horns. There was the sound of and engine rumble again, but it was soft almost like a purr. I did it one more time and I decided the sound was defiantly an engine purring. I laughed softly and the native beings cheeks brightened in color after he realized that I figured out I was making him purr. “What is that sound?” Brandy asked. I laughed. “That is the sounds of the native’s engine purring like a little kitten.” I remarked and did it again. The native was bright silver in the cheeks, clearly flushed. “We’ll keep him for now. But we need to continue on with the R and R.” Brandy nodded and Frank and Jon agreed reluctantly. I slowly stood up to my full height, knocking the native being around forcing him to grab my thumb for support. “Jon, how far around is this city, without possibly getting caught.” I held the native like a little rag doll. He started shouting something with lots of hard sounds, whistles, clicks and some sounds I know a human can’t make. I wrapped my hand around his mouth and when he still squirmed and made noise I stuffed if tip of my pinky. I could feel him trying to bit me, but I tried to go unfazed as best I could. Of course Brandy noticed when I made a face when the little local bit extra hard. “You okay Rain?” He asked as soon as I tried to hide my pain. I think the cretin actually drew blood that time. I stared at the native and he began to gag as he swallowed blood. “He bit me.” I deadpanned. Brandy looked at the local with pity; I think some sort of tears, began to form under his eyes. “I think your choking it.” He stated as we just stared at the native. The motherly side of me kicked in and I slowly removed my finger from his mouth. I loosened my grip so that he was sitting in my palm again. The robot practically doubled over in a coughing fit, begging to spew the blood he choked on. The tears began to spill down his cheek as he doubled over again holding his stomach. I rubbed his back like I would with Georgie “Some of your blood must have made its way to his stomach, would it be a stomach on an alien robot?” Brandy suggested. I shook my head. “First off, he’s the native we’re the alien. Second, I was thinking that to. What would they call them, Tanks?” Jon rolled his eyes. “We are getting off track. He’s sick because he was choking on you because…actually most of it is his fault…” Jon trailed off as the spewing ended and the native began crying. I held him up to my heart and simply tried to comfort him. He kept the conversation silent as we moved out and tried to catalogue more about this planet.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jazz POV

My carrier was being overprotective again so I went outside Polihex to wait for her to calm down. Apparently something crashed in the Aura Desert, to close, according to my carrier. She almost refused for me to leave the apartments when my sire pointed out I couldn’t stay cooped up just because I still a kid, she slowly relented. So here I was listening to music just inside the city walls. Then I suddenly heard a noise. “…_semalf ni nwod gniog s’ti ekil…_” It sounded like music, but I hadn’t heard that kind of music before. It was soft and hard at the same time. It was slow and strong, yet fast and meek. It was an amazing piece, and I had never heard it before. I was contemplated the strange words and strange song when I heard more strange speaking. “_mrof efil tnanimod eht si siht kniht you od?_” Now I was curious. The sound came from far away, yet so close. “_neila ekil gnikaeps trats ouy did nehw?_” “_eno emaceb I ecnis._” After a while, I realized why it was so weird, they weren’t speaking right. I froze in thought. But why would someone not speak right? “_elbbab srarh ylno ylbaborp eh. Su sraeh eh kniht i._” I heard. It was more quiet this time, like I wasn’t suppose to hear. Wait, why shouldn’t I hear it? “Hello, is anyone out there? Are you talking to me?” I called out. I could hear the whispers again. This time I could make out that they were behind the hills that blocked most of the view of the Aura Gardens. “_dais eh tahw wonk ouy od?_” I heard. “_egaugnal eht wonk t’nod fi edoced ro etalsnart t’nac i._” I called out again. Suddenly there were several scuffles and one sound as someone or something tried to pull back into hiding behind the hill I was making my way around. “_toohs._” After rounding the corner I noticed four large beings, about 10 times bigger than I, were hiding, there back plating flat against the hill. I went to yell for help, but that’s when they reacted. One, very large, brown, and strong swiped me up with his hand. “_terref a ekil s’eh, he, it._” The one holding me spook. I was rattled around a bit and I could tell that one of them was not amused. “_terref a gnitfil ekil s’it tub, yorrs._” I think the first giant tried to defend himself verbally, but I couldn’t tell. Do you know how difficult it is to understand a language you’ve never heard? “_erofeb terref a dleh ev’ouy?_” The other, the one who looked different than the three opposites’ asked. “_tnereffid s’that, erofeb terref a yb dekcatta neeb ev’I, on._” The one holding me said, whatever he said. But…he winced as he did so, so they probably ignored me and began small talk. I began struggling again, which unfortunately landed all eyes on me. “_evitan eht htiw od ew od tahw, so?_” I was suddenly starred at on all sides. It was really unnerving. “_gnirolpxe fo yad dnoces eht no ton, yug eht tropsnart ylisae dluoc ew erew dne eht ta evitan a teem lduoc ew gnipoh saw i._” The first one said rapidly. Before pausing and looking right into my optics. “_eh t’nsi, elttil si yllaer he?_” She held out her hand and I could feel the one holding me loosen. I was lightly dropped into her hand, and I still regret my next action. I kicked her hand. Ever heard the phrase “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” Well, slightly less well known is “Don’t kick the hand that’s holding you high enough above the ground that if you fall, you will die.” Well, I got what I wanted. I was let down. But not the way I wanted to be. It took two attempts before she caught me and set me in the middle of her hand. I looked around nervously. What would they do to me? One hand suddenly brought a hand down toward my helm. I winced, forcing myself not to fall backwards. I did not need a repeat of falling. She brought the hand just between my audio horns. I felt my engine rumble. I groaned in embarrassment, I never let my carrier do that and here was this strange alien giant rubbing them. Catching my groan, the giant got this look on her face and did it again. My engine purred again, and so did me flushing in embarrassment. She did it one more time and this time the sound of my engine attracted attention of the other giants. “_dnuos that si tahw?_” “_nettik elttil a ekil gnirrup enigne s’evitan eht fo sdnuos eht si taht._” I sighed and resigned to being petted like a turbo dog as they discussed one thing or another. “_R dna R eht htiw no eunitnoc ot deen ew tub. Won rof mih peek ll’ew._” “_thguac gnitteg ylbissop tuohtiw, ytic siht si dnuora raf who, noj._” After standing up and knocking me around; the femme giant tucked me under her arm like a toy; it was still a comfortable grip that it wasn’t bothering me. But that didn’t mean I wanted to be there. “Put me down. Just let me-” I began crying out like a sparkling until instead of putting me down, she covered my mouth with her servo. When I didn’t get the clue to shut up she shoved her digit in. I was startled when they began to move. I then realized I was being kidnapped. I did the only thing that came to mind. I bit the finger. Now, do you remember when I mentioned “don’t bite the hand that feeds you”? Maybe I should mention to not bit the hand at all. At first, me biting her finger didn’t seem to do anything, but after I tried a couple more times I broke through. She must have made a face because the small talk started again. “_niar yako ouy?_” I then realized just why it was bad idea to bit her. My mouth filled up with her fluid, fast. Because her digit was completely filling my mouth, the only way for it to go, was down my throat tubing. My eyes widened in horror when I realized that my tanks were going to fill with this stuff if I didn’t find a way to get rid of it. “_em tib eh._” I didn’t have to know what was actually said, it probably along the lines of. “He’s getting what he deserves. I’ll drown him.” Actually, I could be completely wrong, but I didn’t care. I was probably going to die. I could feel tears collecting under my optics. The strange fluid was thinner than oil, but it didn’t seem to stop. “_ti gnikohc rouy kniht i._” Almost as soon as the tiny giant said something, the femme removed her digit. As soon as she did so, I collapsed into a spewing, coughing hunk of metal; trying to get rid of the fluid that horrid taste. I held my abdominal section as more came up. I felt a small, comforting feeling against my back plating as more of the unknown fluid came up. I didn’t even bother trying to hide my tears, because once I started retching up the fluid it hurt, a lot. I heard a lot of speaking, but I was into much pain to actually understand what they were saying. Eventually my puking ended and I just began full out crying. My throat tubing stung, I could still feel the taste of different fluids in my mouth and to make matters worse, I was being kidnapped. The femme moved me closer to her body. I could hear the steady beating of; what I was assuming; her life source. It was comforting and peaceful. I pulled into her as I began crying again. She was soft and warm, and the beating was in a steady rhythm that just sent me to sleep.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainy POV

I looked at the small robot in my arms against my chest. He had stopped crying about twenty minutes ago, but I wasn’t taking chances. I had him pulled up to my chest, both arms rapped protectively around him like a newborn. I sighed and brought my hand to rub the top of his head again. My shirt was stained partially blue from his tears. Go figure. “So Rainy, what do we do know, we’ve gone past the civilization point. There are bound to be more citizens. We are gigantic, easily caught.” Brandy explained very emphatically. I flippantly raised my hand at him. “Did you notice how the city was laid out?” I asked. Jon raised an eyebrow at me and stated that he saw a small layout. I grinned. “Back in Ancient history, when it wasn’t safe to travel in fear of bandits, wars, and systems of failing health, little to all cities where sparse. The travel distance was an hour to a day’s walk, and almost every city had protective walls surrounding each city with one or two gates. The gates were always protected, and the cities were practically countries with themselves, of course, that wasn’t necessarily correct. But the point I am trying to make is simple. If all the cities are going to have similar layouts, that would mean that we would easily be able to tell if we are approaching another town. Not to say that some could live outside the cities, but it could potentially be dangerous and highly disapproved.” I explained. Frank stared at me oddly. “What does that have to – oh.” I heard. Away off we could see the light of another city like a star, and beyond that was another. The sun was still bright out, but it wasn’t scorching. It actually felt quite nice. “Keep your eyes open for any others that could be traveling.” I commented. The way between the two cities was beautiful in its own way. The metal was grated and felt fine and rugged between my fingers.


End file.
